Calcutta University (CU) is set to start collaborative courses and exchange programmes with a foreign university.

For the first time in recent history, CU will offer full-fledged under-graduate and post-graduate courses in humanities, arts and social sciences, in collaboration with a foreign university.

“With this scheme, it will be simpler for students in Calcutta to study courses offered by a foreign university,” said Suranjan Das, CU pro vice-chancellor (academic). A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between CU and the University of Erfurt, Germany. The team which came to sign the MoU was headed by T. Herz, vice-president of the university.

The conditions of the MoU involve an exchange of teachers between the two universities.

While the German university will send teachers to Calcutta, faculty members from CU will also be required to visit the country. This, according to Das, will not just provide an opportunity for students in Calcutta to be taught by faculty members from a foreign university, it will also give the CU teachers an opportunity to visit a foreign country and get themselves acquainted with teaching methods there.

The new move is part of the university’s drive to expand its academic activities in universities abroad, CU officials said. “We are negotiating with universities in other countries as well, so that we can launch more collaborative courses,” they added.

According to the officials, the university move was adopted after considering the rising demand among students for joining foreign universities. Moreover, the launch of such courses will ensure earning of more revenue, they pointed out.

Apart from the study courses, CU plans to launch a number of research projects in collaboration with the German university.

Officials in CU said the MoU is unique because earlier, only research projects were launched in collaboration with foreign universities.